Hanging with Ashley Argota

You loved Ashley Argota as Lulu on True Jackson, VP and now she's surfer girl Kelly Peckinpaw on Nickelodeon's new series Bucket & Skinner's Epic Adventures. We caught up with Ashley to chat about her new show, her secret career goals and other very important topics like her celebrity crush!

Teen Mag: Tell us about your character Kelly on Bucket and Skinner.

Ashley Argota: I was always a good student in school. Kelly is also the kind of person that likes to make everyone happy, and I'm very much the same way. We're both very focused, responsible, and caring.

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TM: How are you and Kelly different?

AA: Kelly is a surf instructor, and I've never even tried surfing! I've had to learn surfer lingo and how to hold the surfboards properly while being on the show. Kelly is also really good at gently deflecting romantic advances from Bucket and other boys in school. But in real life, it actually makes me really uncomfortable when boys flirt with me. I never know what to do. I wish I had Kelly's boy expertise.

TM: Were you anything like Lulu on True Jackson, VP?

AA: Lulu is me when I'm really, really, REALLY hyper. I am also a very loyal friend, just like Lulu. She always has True's back. Both of us are also very book smart. Lulu's a straight "A" student and in a lot of honors classes. She is also pretty sarcastic, as am I. She likes to take stabs at Ryan, and in real life, I kind of do the same thing to Matt Shively.

TM: What's the most fun you've had working on Bucket and Skinner?

AA: There's never a dull moment working on Bucket and Skinner. Taylor and Dillon love to play pranks on me. They know how skittish I am, so they'll come up behind me and scare me all the time. They love to steal my phone and hide it around the set. I think another fun part of working on the show is doing all of the stunts! There was an episode where I got to jump out of a window and fence with a girl that was supposed to be my enemy. I felt like such a ninja. We've also gotten to dance and sing a lot on the show, which has been so much fun.

TM: What would people be most surprised to know about you?

AA: I have scoliosis. I was diagnosed when I was 14 years old with a 21 degree curve in my back. I wore a brace under my clothes for almost the entire first season of True Jackson, VP and no one but the cast and crew of the show knew about it. I still have a little bit of a curvature in my spine but it's considered a normal curve now because it's only seven degrees. I still have to do exercises every once in a while and remember to stand up straight to make sure the curvature doesn't get as bad as it used to be.

TM: What is your guiltiest pleasure?

AA: CHOCOLATE. And Jamoca Almond Fudge ice cream from Baskin Robbins.

TM: Who is your celebrity crush?

AA: Andrew Garfield!!! He's sooo cute. And an amazig actor. Same goes for Leonardo DiCaprio. He's been my celebrity crush since I was little. When I saw Titanic, I was convinced that him and I were married. I was four years old.

TM: What would you do if you weren't an actress?

AA: I'd be a doctor. When I was little I would watch trauma shows on the Discovery Channel. Medicine is something I've been interested in for a very long time. I'm actually going to NYU for Nursing. I wanted to go to be a doctor but since I'm going part time for now, I know it'll take forever to finish school, so I think nursing is a good start. Everyone is always so surprised when I say that nursing is my major, but I think it's really important to have a backup plan. Show business is very unpredictable, and you don't know what could happen in the next few years. I really admire James Franco and Natalie Portman for going to school while they were still acting. If they can do it, so can I.